An annual African trade summit in California had no African attendees this year after at least 60 people were denied visas, according to event leaders. But this year, every single African citizen who requested a visa was rejected, according to organizer Mary Flowers. Rejected participants at the trade summit came from Nigeria, Cameroon, Angola, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Ghana, South Africa and more, according to Flowers. Read more“This summit is designed to bring Africa to America’s doorstep for investments and trade,” said Flowers, who is now working on a power plant project in Nigeria, with a collaboration that emerged from a past trade summit. “When restrictive policies and practices are followed by US embassies when granting visas to Africans, it can hurt opportunities between US and African business entities,” Bass said in a statement to the Guardian on Monday.

Source: The Guardian March 20, 2017 20:48 UTC